CHICAGO –Registration opens at 10 AM today for the BTN Big 10K, the summer race that turns the Chicago lakefront into a Big Ten Tailgate Party. The nationally televised 10K and 5K races return to Soldier Field on Saturday, July 26. Special Olympics Chicago is the race’s charity partner for the second straight year.

Wally Ellenson entered Minnesota last year as a noted leaper. We saw a few glimpses of the 6-foot-4 guard’s athleticism on the hardwood during his freshman season. Here’s one example. And another. Nothing, however, compares to his latest leap. On Sunday, Ellenson won gold in the high jump (2.15 meters; or just over seven feet) at the Junior Pan Am Games in Medellin, Colombia.

The Big Ten Conference office announced on Tuesday the 2012 All-Big Ten men’s and women’s outdoor track and field teams and individual award winners. See all of the teams and superlative winners in this post.